Book Review: The Gin O'clock Club by Rosie Blake

Bring the sparkle and fizz back into your life with the help of The Gin O'Clock Club, Rosie Blake's latest book. 

'Touching and hilarious' Jilly Cooper

Title: The Gin O'Clock Club

Author: Rosie Blake

Published: August 20th 2020 by Sphere

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Lottie is always in a hurry, rushing through her days ticking tasks off her to-do lists. Teddy is worried about his granddaughter - and he knows that his late wife, Lily, would have known exactly what to say to make things better. Now that Lily has gone, it's up to Teddy to talk some sense into Lottie.

With the help of Arjun, Geoffrey and Howard, the elderly reprobates who make up his Gin O'Clock Club, Teddy makes a plan to help Lottie find her way back to the things that really matter - family, friendship and love. But as Lottie balances a high-powered job with her reluctant attendance at whist drives, ballroom dances and bingo, Teddy wonders if she's really ready to open up her heart to the possibility of true happiness...

Laugh, cry and fall in love with this colourful cast of characters in THE feel-good novel of the year.

Review: I love Rosie Blake's stories (I have laughed so much reading them) and The Gin O'Clock Club was not exception at all. I absolutely adored it. Blake always creates the most interesting, fun and colourful cast of characters and with this story she completely surpassed herself. In this book, we've got Lottie as the main character. She is a workaholic barrister that has forgotten to have a personal life. And then, we've got the stars of the book, her grandfather and his three friends, who are determined to remind her that life shouldn't be all work, work, work.

First, let me say that I really liked Lottie as a character. I could see a bit of myself in her. Although I am not obsessed with work, I do tend to get angry with my closer ones when something doesn't go the way I expected/wanted and like her, I know it's not their fault but I just can't stop myself. So for me, she felt like a very real person, with many layers and I loved following her journey through the story. 

And as I said, the older characters were such a joy to read. I loved their energy, their banter and their hunger for life. There were many touching scenes with them that stole a bit of my heart and reminded me that we tend to forget a bit about the older generations, and we shouldn't, they have so many things to say and things to do yet! 

As you can see, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a feel-good story with lots of heart. My advice, be patient with Lottie, she will surprise you! 

Rating: 5 stars

I would like to thank the author and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.